With the increase in contagious body fluid carried organisms such as the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) virus, there is an increasing need to protect medical, health and other workers who can come into contact with the body fluids of others. In particular, there is a need to protect personnel providing personal care, such as physicians, nurses and medical workers who administer intravenous needles and surgical procedures, and handle vessels such as glass test tubes. Thus, the need exists to prevent such personnel from sticking themselves with used (and therefore possibly contaminated) needles, cutting themselves with scalpels during surgical procedures and otherwise, or cutting themselves with contaminated pieces of glass from breaking vessels.
During many medical procedures, one hand of a practitioner is used to hold a body portion or a vessel while the other hand inserts a needle, cuts with a scalpel, or performs other functions. Not infrequently, during such procedures, a practitioner can inadvertently stick himself with a needle or cut himself with a scalpel. Too, glass and other types of vessels containing blood and other body fluids sometimes break and a person holding the vessel ends up with cuts from fragments or slivers of broken glass or shards. These needle penetrations and outs offer invasive paths for contaminants carried on the needles, scalpel blades and fragments or slivers.
Although it is increasingly important to protect such practitioners from possible contamination and consequent disease caused by viral and other agents within such invasive body fluids, gloves and vessel holding devices available at present provide insufficient protection in view of new and deadly viral and other contaminants now being encountered by various workers in medical, radiological, chemical and other fields.